R17 Friction Hydraulics Series: North Shropshire Wheelers 25

In the closest fought battle for Friction Hydraulics Series supremacy, Tomos Hales made it three Championships in a row after displacing long time Series leader Hayley Wells – and leapfrogging Rob McGregor at the death in Round 17: North Shropshire Wheelers 25. The trio entered the final round split by just 10 points, but Hales’ event win on a favoured course saw him take victory in 52 minutes 43 seconds on a less than ideal morning, as riders coped with a southerly headwind to the turn. All three were guaranteed a medal, it was just which colour.

McGregor finished 4^th on the day in 56:20; but with Wells agonisingly unavailable due to a clash of personal plans he took the Silver medal, consigning her to Bronze by 30 points. Wells could have topped up her points tally by a maximum 35 points due to the Best 12 scores from 17 events rule, meaning she would have had to have finished at least 6^th and beaten Jed Friskney’s 59:22 – something she is well capable of. However, she was still pleased to have won overall Bronze in a first for a female after registering some simply terrific performances throughout the season, leaving a tantalising ‘What if?’ question hanging: “I was really pleased to finish 3rd overall in what’s been a fantastic local Series. The competition at the top has been incredibly close, making for some exciting and competitive racing. It’s been great to be pushed and to be amongst the top standings. Some races were well executed by me, others not so much — but those are often the ones that teach us the most! Huge thanks to everyone for the continued support, and especially to the organisers and marshals who give their time to make this great Series possible”.

For McGregor winning a Friction Series medal was a long-term goal, and he reflected on coming into form as the season progressed after a difficult early season for him: “I’ve been aiming for a Friction and Hydraulics Series podium for a few seasons now. I’m really happy that I managed it this year having focused specifically on time trials. I had a slow start to the season, but built speed throughout despite a setback due to illness in spring. The highlight was the Anfield 100: I didn’t quite meet my sub-four hour target, but did do a new personal best. I was also really pleased to achieve personal bests in the 30 and 50 mile distances. Congratulations to Tomos and Hayley on completing the podium, it’s been a great competition all year. Thank you to everyone involved in making this season’s time trial events possible; we are lucky to have such a thriving time trialling scene in Shropshire”!

Hales beat off strong challenges from Simon Romei in 54:38, and Bryn Davies in 55:48 to take the win and the Series at the last gasp, but had to battle all the way against the headwind on a morning he was, by his own admission, not at his best. On mornings like this the better riders are able to put their endurance to the test and punch through the pain, with Hales suffering with ‘heavy’ legs that did not wish to play ball: “This was my last Open event of the year, so I wanted to give it my all. Unfortunately my legs didn’t get the memo and I struggled on the way out into a headwind. At least the last few miles always feel fast on this course. Well done to Rob and Hayley for the tough competition; I doubt there has ever been a women fighting for the Open Friction Series title before. Thanks for all the Series organisers and marshals; it has been a great summer racing in the sunshine – however it does get very hot inside a time trial helmet”! Hales’ comments about Wells were entirely correct – this was a unique feat showing what a top class, National level rider she is becoming.

Romei was delighted to take the runner-up spot on the day, and was looking to get a good race in at the close of the Open season – he wasn’t disappointed, with an average speed just under 27½mph, showing how hard he pushed on the return leg after the battle south: “Super happy to have taken the runner up in the North Shropshire Wheelers 25, it was a great morning for racing: temperatures were good, though a tough headwind on the way out, so I pushed super-hard knowing it was a tailwind on the return leg. I left it all out on the course knowing it was the final 25 of the season. I was also very pleased as I was faster than a couple of weeks earlier when I raced this course. Big thanks to the organisers, marshals and timekeepers, all of who did a fantastic job”. Romei also took he Veterans win on the day with +12:42, 12 seconds ahead of Davies in this age-adjusted competition.

Hafren CC’s Davies was also pleased with his ride after finding late season form, and was happy to round off the podium places in his third, third place of the 2026 Friction Series. He commented: “A really enjoyable race to finish the Series with. I felt good, my race went well, and I was pleased with the result. I only a minor hold up at Crudgington; and there was a bit of a stiff headwind out, but then it was nice and fast back from Shawbirch – a very well organised and run event again, thanks to everyone involved”.

Davies’ team mate and namesake Jan Davies came away with the female win in 1:08:31, 3:18 ahead of Helen Tudor, and expressed shock at recording her first win in this Series in 2026 right at the death: “I was really pleased with my result: I’m always happy, and a little surprised to come away with first place. A big thank you to all the organisers and marshals who give their time and make it possible for us to continue racing; looking forward to next year and seeing if I can improve”!

Tudor secured Friction Female Series Silver on the strength of her ride, consigning Thea Osmund-Smith to the Bronze medal position, and reflected on a season of extremes, stating: “It’s been an interesting season: we’ve had extremes of temperature, with the Anfield 100 in 30ºC+ giving us a taste of the summer to come. Hayley has been in a league of her own this year; but it wouldn’t happen without all the clubs and marshals who give up their free time”.

In the Friction Road Bike Series the 2026 winner lead from the front with a dominant performance showing just why he is the champion. Stuart Proctor registered a handicap time of 55:25 to see off the attentions of closest challenger on the morning, Richard Simpson in 58:03; and like Tudor reflected on a great season as well as commenting on the race specifics: “The same course as in Round 16, but it was a brighter and slightly warmer morning to race the final round of the Friction Hydraulics Series. I felt great again from the off, but the stronger southerly headwind made progress down to Shawbirch a bit of a trial! It was a great relief to get around there, and then enjoy the slight push back up north. I went over the line a little slower than in two weeks previous, but I was happy to finish under the hour. I was absolutely chuffed to bits to take Friction Hydraulics Road Bike Gold and Veterans Silver in my return to a full season of racing, I can’t tell you how much I’ve realised I’ve missed the SCCA scene, it’s great to be back! Onward and upwards for the next couple of months, then I’m really looking forward to getting back on it in 2027. Cheers to all at North Shropshire Wheelers for the day’s racing; and of course the SCCA for continuing to host and support such great number of county race Series”!

The two other medals in the Road Bike Series had gone down to the wire, with Jon Goh taking Silver and Andrew Dawson the Bronze. When told of the win Goh commented on the rise of the category, which is the growth area of competitive time trialling: “I was really pleased to see so many riders taking part in the time trials on road bikes. The level of competition was high from the start. Congratulations to Stuart on winning Gold. The Silver medal is a lovely way to end the season for me. Thank you so much to all the organisers for making Shropshire time trials such a bustling community”.

Dawson added: “First I’d like to thank all the organisers and marshals for putting on a great Series. Congratulations to Stuart for his win, and Jon’s Silver; both well deserved medals. I was really happy to hang on for the Bronze medal and help towards Paramount’s defence of the Top Club Award”.

That left one final medal resolved with Flo Parkinson helping herself to Friction Junior Silver. When informed of this she commented: “I am absolutely thrilled to be winning the Silver medal in this particular Series as I focussed on the relatively short 10 mile courses this year to gain experience, before I aim to tackle some of the longer 25 mile courses over the next couple of years”.

SCCA:

Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Points
1	Tomos	Hales	Aerologic RT	S	TT	00:52:43	60
2	Simon	Romei	Paramount CRT	V	TT	00:54:38	55
3	Bryn	Davies	Hafren CC	V	TT	00:55:48	50
4	Robert	McGregor	Paramount CRT	S	TT	00:56:20	45
5	Jonathan	Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	00:58:39	40
6	Jed	Friskney	Dave Scott Coaching	S	RB	00:59:22	35
7	Stuart	Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	RB	00:59:33	30
8	Mark	Hill	Hafren CC	V	TT	00:59:48	25
9	Adam	Mumford	Wrekinsport CC	S	TT	01:00:00	20
10	Christopher	Riley	Paramount CRT	V	TT	01:01:18	15
11	James	Neale	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	01:02:28	10
12	Richard	Simpson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	01:02:32	5
13	Robert	Garbett	SCCA Private Member	V	TT	01:02:34	5
14	Ian	Connolly	Ludlow CC	V	TT	01:03:00	5
15	Nathaniel	Brown	North Shropshire Wheelers	S	TT	01:03:21	5
16	Jamie	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:07:18	5
17	Simon	Jones	Hafren CC	V	TT	01:08:28	5
18	Jan	Davies	Hafren CC	FV	TT	01:08:31	5
19	Steve	Cornish	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:09:28	5
20	Tony	Forster	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:10:22	5
21	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	01:11:49	5
22	Ellie	Langley	North Shropshire Wheelers	F	TT	01:12:12	5
23	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	01:12:27	5
24	David	Wilson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:14:01	5
25	Les	Boughey	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:14:29	5
26	Terry	Price	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	01:15:00	5
27	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	01:18:12	5
28	Phil	Guy	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	01:19:37	5
.	Andrew	Dawson	Paramount CRT	V	RB	DNF	.
.	Alex	Paulukiewicz	North Shropshire Wheelers	S	TT	DNS	.
.	Jonathan	Goh	Paramount CRT	V	RB	DNS	.

Veterans:

Vets Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Vet +/-	Vets Points
1	Simon	Romei	Paramount CRT	V	TT	+12:42	60
2	Bryn	Davies	Hafren CC	V	TT	+12:30	55
3	David	Wilson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	+11:11	50
4	Stuart	Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	RB	+10:35	45
5	Mark	Hill	Hafren CC	V	TT	+10:00	40
6	Jonathan	Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	TT	+9:55	35
7	Robert	Garbett	SCCA Private Member	V	TT	+9:30	30
8	Christopher	Riley	Paramount CRT	V	TT	+8:30	25
9	Richard	Simpson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	+7:57	20
10	Ian	Connolly	Ludlow CC	V	TT	+6:28	15
11	Steve	Cornish	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	+5:30	10
12	Jan	Davies	Hafren CC	FV	TT	+4:58	5
13	James	Neale	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	+4:18	5
14	Jamie	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	+3:34	5
15	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	+2:39	5
16	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	+2:37	5
17	Phil	Guy	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	+0:26	5
18	Simon	Jones	Hafren CC	V	TT	-0:54	5
19	Les	Boughey	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	-2:50	5
20	Tony	Forster	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	-4:10	5
21	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	-4:18	5
22	Terry	Price	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	TT	-6:42	5

Females:

Female Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	Time	Female Points
1	Jan	Davies	Hafren CC	FV	TT	01:08:31	60
2	Helen	Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	FV	TT	01:11:49	55
3	Ellie	Langley	North Shropshire Wheelers	F	TT	01:12:12	50
4	Kathryn	Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	01:12:27	45
5	Elaine	Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	FV	TT	01:18:12	40

Road Bikes (on handicap):

RB Pos’n	Forename	Surname	Club	Cat	Machine	RB Adj Time	RB Points
1	Stuart	Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	RB	55:25	60
2	Richard	Simpson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	58:03	55
3	Jed	Friskney	Dave Scott Coaching	S	RB	59:22	50
4	James	Neale	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	1:01:42	45
5	Phil	Guy	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	RB	1:05:34	40

Top Club Award:

Pos’n	Club	Points
1	North Shropshire Wheelers	350
2	Hafren CC	160
3	Paramount CRT	130
4	Dave Scott Coaching	110
5	Aerologic RT	100
6	Oswestry Paragon CC	55
7	Wrekinsport CC	20
8	Ludlow CC	15
9	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	10

Final Cumulative Standing after seventeen rounds

Overall

Position	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Tomos Hales	Aerologic RT	S	595
2	Robert McGregor	Paramount CRT	S	575
3	Hayley Wells	Aerologic RT	F	545
4	Christopher Riley	Paramount CRT	V	485
5	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	V	345
6	Bryn Davies	Hafren CC	V	305
7	Stuart Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	290
=8	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	V	285
=8	Oli Freeman	Wrekinsport CC	S	285
=10	Jonathan Whittaker	SCCA Private Member	S	225
=10	Phil Collins	Aerologic RT	V	225
12	Paul Duncan	Paramount CRT	V	205
13	Kirk Vickers	Holohan Coaching Race Team	S	180
14	Mark Pritchard	Aerologic RT	S	165
15	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	V	155
16	Philip Gardner	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	V	150
17	Mitchell Fletcher	Paramount CRT	S	135
18	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	V	130
19	Dean Callister	Aerologic RT	S	120
20	David Scott	Dave Scott Coaching	S	110

Veterans

Vets Position	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Christopher Riley	Paramount CRT	700
2	Stuart Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	625
3	John Westhead	Paramount CRT	445
4	Simon Romei	Paramount CRT	390
5	Bryn Davies	Hafren CC	385
6	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	335
7	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	315
=8	Paul Duncan	Paramount CRT	295
=8	Philip Gardner	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	295
10	Phil Collins	Aerologic RT	230
=11	David Wilson	North Shropshire Wheelers	200
=11	Richard Simpson	North Shropshire Wheelers	200
13	Thea Osmund-Smith	Paramount CRT	190
14	Jonathan Mills-Keeling	Aerologic RT	170
15	Ian Connolly	Ludlow CC	155
16	Robert Garbett	SCCA Private Member	140
17	Paul Edwards	Wrekinsport CC	130
=18	Helen Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	110
=18	Jamie Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	110
=20	Kathryn Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	105
=20	Mark Hill	Hafren CC	105

Females

Female Pos’n	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Hayley Wells	Aerologic RT	750
2	Helen Tudor	Oswestry Paragon CC	460
3	Thea Osmund-Smith	Paramount CRT	380
4	Kathryn Rossiter	North Shropshire Wheelers	360
5	Elaine Beckett	North Shropshire Wheelers	295
6	Jan Davies	Hafren CC	165
7	Gill Snelson	Paramount CRT	140
8	Evie Fletcher	Paramount CRT	130
9	Ellie Langley	North Shropshire Wheelers	115
10	Claire Blackwell-Smyth	Paramount CRT	100
11	Rebecca Pugh	Paramount CRT	85
12	Sophie Edge	Dave Scott Coaching	60
=13	Ella Hamilton	Oswestry Paragon CC	55
=13	Hannah Lancaster	Ludlow CC	55
=13	Laura Sheppard	SCCA Private Member	55
=13	Lauren Turley	Bridgnorth Cycling Club	55
=17	Jane Morris	Market Drayton Cycling Club	45
=17	Jenny York	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	45
=19	Alison Fryer-Jones	Paramount CRT	40
=19	Florence Parkinson	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	40

Road Bikes

Road Bike Pos’n	Name	Club	Cat	Best 12
1	Stuart Proctor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	710
2	Jonathan Goh	Paramount CRT	V	590
3	Andrew Dawson	Paramount CRT	V	565
4	Richard Simpson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	355
5	Paul Duncan	Paramount CRT	V	350
6	William Preston	Paramount CRT	S	165
7	David Scott	Dave Scott Coaching	S	155
8	James Neale	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	130
=9	Nick Hickman	Paramount CRT	V	105
=9	Thea Osmund-Smith	Paramount CRT	FV	105
=11	George Coombes	Aerologic RT	S	100
=11	Mark Fenn	Shropshire CCA	V	100
=11	Matthew Price	Wrekinsport CC	V	100
=14	Karl Moseley	Bridgnorth Cycling Club	V	85
=14	Max Baker	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	S	85
=14	Phil Guy	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	85
17	Terry Price	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	75
18	David Wilson	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	70
=19	John Etherington	North Shropshire Wheelers	V	65
=19	Luke Taylor	Dave Scott Coaching	V	65
=19	Rich Smith	Wrekinsport CC	V	65

Juniors

Junior Pos’n	Name	Club	Best 12
1	Taliesin Goh	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	180
2	Florence Parkinson	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	55

Top Club Award

Position	Club	Total Points
1	Paramount CRT	5535
2	Aerologic RT	2375
3	North Shropshire Wheelers	2130
4	Dave Scott Coaching	1305
5	Wrekinsport CC	970
6	Hafren CC	760
7	Mid Shropshire Wheelers	725
8	Oswestry Paragon CC	690
9	Holohan Coaching Race Team	275
10	Bridgnorth Cycling Club	230
11	Ludlow CC	215
12	Market Drayton Cycling Club	60
13	Propel Cycling Club	30
14	Newport (Shropshire) CC	20